KennedyMmari
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 12, 2012
- 979
- 188
The Syrian army has scored
"major victories" against
rebels and now holds "the
balance of power" in the
conflict, President Bashar al-
Assad has reportedly told a Lebanese TV station. Mr Assad is also quoted as
saying Syria has received the
first shipment of an advanced
Russian air defence system. Russia vowed to go ahead with
sending S-300 missiles earlier
this week. Meanwhile, the main opposition
outside Syria said it would not
take part in peace talks while
massacres continued. Speaking in Istanbul where the
Syrian National Coalition is
meeting, its interim head,
George Sabra, said that talk of
diplomatic conferences was
farcical while Syrian government forces backed by
the Lebanese Shiite movement
Hezbollah were carrying out
heinous crimes. 'Major victories' President Assad's interview
with Hezbollah-linked al-Manar
TV is set to be broadcast later on
Thursday. In excerpts from the interview
published by Lebanon's pro-
Syrian al-Akhbar newspaper, Mr
Assad is quoted as saying: "The
Syrian army has scored major
victories against armed rebels on the ground and the balance
of power is now with the Syrian
army." Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
Muallem made similar
comments on Wednesday,
telling Lebanese media: "Our
armed forces have regained the
momentum.'' Mr Assad also admits in the
interview with al-Manar that
Syria and the Lebanese
Hezbollah movement are co-
operating, or "on the same
axis". "Hezbollah fighters are deployed
along the Lebanese-Syrian
borders but the operations are
conducted by the Syrian army
until the "terrorist" groups are
crushed", he is quoted as saying. Mr Assad condemns backing for
the rebels from Turkey, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia, claiming there
are now 100,000 foreign
fighters on Syrian soil. 'Invading' Earlier, a rebel leader accused
Hezbollah of "invading" Syria. Gen Selim Idriss, the military
chief of the main umbrella
group of Syrian rebels, the Free
Syrian Army, claimed that more
than 7,000 fighters of the
Lebanese Shia movement were taking part in attacks on the
rebel-held town of Qusair. He made an emotional appeal to
Western powers on the BBC
World Service's Newshour
programme, saying: "We are
dying. Please come and help us." More than 50,000 residents
were trapped in the town and a
"massacre" would occur if it fell,
he added. Regime forces, backed by
Hezbollah fighters, are reported
to have retaken from rebels a
disused military airfield north of
Qusair. Opposition groups and
humanitarian organisations say
conditions for the civilians and
the wounded in Qusair are dire,
with doctors saying oxygen and
other medical supplies have run out. Syrian government officials say
that a corridor has been
established to allow civilians to
escape, and fighters who put
down their arms are free to
leave too. Fears of further tension "Syria has received the first
shipment of Russian anti-
aircraft S-300 rockets," Mr Assad
is reported as saying in the TV
interview. "The rest of the shipment will
arrive soon." The S-300 is a highly capable
surface-to-air missile system
that, as well as targeting
aircraft, also has the capacity to
engage ballistic missiles. The delivery of such missiles
raises fears of further tension
with Israel, as Mr Assad is also
reported to have threatened to
respond directly if Israel
launches any further air attacks on Syria. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe
Yaalon said on Tuesday he had
information suggesting the
missiles had not yet been
delivered, but if they were Israel
would "know how to act". On Thursday, Israeli Energy
Minister Silvan Shalom told
public radio that Israel did not
want to "escalate" the situation
with Syria, but would not allow
the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah. The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says
the delivery of missiles could
bring the region into extremely
dangerous terrain. If those missiles have in fact
been supplied and the Israelis
could figure out where they are
and hit them, the regional
superpower, Israel, would be
hitting material provided by what used to be a global
superpower and is still a very
important international power,
our correspondent says. 1. The long-range
surveillance radar tracks
objects over a range of
300km (185 miles) and
relays information to the
command vehicle, which assesses potential targets. 2. A target is identified and
the command vehicle
orders the engagement
radar to launch missiles. 3. Launch data is sent to the
best placed of the
battalion's six launch
vehicles and it releases
two surface-to-air
missiles. 4. The engagement radar
helps guide the missiles
towards the target. It can
guide up to 12 missiles
simultaneously, engaging
up to six targets at once. Efforts by the US and Russia to
convene a peace conference in
Geneva in June have suffered a
further setback with the
opposition Syrian National
Coalition saying it will not take part while killing continues in
Qusair. Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Sabra
appealed for international help
for people that he said were
trapped in Qusair - a
strategically vital town on the
border with Lebanon that has become a key battleground. And he warned the Lebanese
government over the
involvement of Hezbollah,
saying the Syrian people could
not forgive the spilling of their
blood. Only last week, a spokesman for
the National Coalition had said it
would attend if Mr Assad agreed
to step down. The Syrian leader is quoted in
the TV interview as saying the
Syrian government would
attend in principle but doubts
the meeting will yield results.
Source:m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22713119
"major victories" against
rebels and now holds "the
balance of power" in the
conflict, President Bashar al-
Assad has reportedly told a Lebanese TV station. Mr Assad is also quoted as
saying Syria has received the
first shipment of an advanced
Russian air defence system. Russia vowed to go ahead with
sending S-300 missiles earlier
this week. Meanwhile, the main opposition
outside Syria said it would not
take part in peace talks while
massacres continued. Speaking in Istanbul where the
Syrian National Coalition is
meeting, its interim head,
George Sabra, said that talk of
diplomatic conferences was
farcical while Syrian government forces backed by
the Lebanese Shiite movement
Hezbollah were carrying out
heinous crimes. 'Major victories' President Assad's interview
with Hezbollah-linked al-Manar
TV is set to be broadcast later on
Thursday. In excerpts from the interview
published by Lebanon's pro-
Syrian al-Akhbar newspaper, Mr
Assad is quoted as saying: "The
Syrian army has scored major
victories against armed rebels on the ground and the balance
of power is now with the Syrian
army." Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
Muallem made similar
comments on Wednesday,
telling Lebanese media: "Our
armed forces have regained the
momentum.'' Mr Assad also admits in the
interview with al-Manar that
Syria and the Lebanese
Hezbollah movement are co-
operating, or "on the same
axis". "Hezbollah fighters are deployed
along the Lebanese-Syrian
borders but the operations are
conducted by the Syrian army
until the "terrorist" groups are
crushed", he is quoted as saying. Mr Assad condemns backing for
the rebels from Turkey, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia, claiming there
are now 100,000 foreign
fighters on Syrian soil. 'Invading' Earlier, a rebel leader accused
Hezbollah of "invading" Syria. Gen Selim Idriss, the military
chief of the main umbrella
group of Syrian rebels, the Free
Syrian Army, claimed that more
than 7,000 fighters of the
Lebanese Shia movement were taking part in attacks on the
rebel-held town of Qusair. He made an emotional appeal to
Western powers on the BBC
World Service's Newshour
programme, saying: "We are
dying. Please come and help us." More than 50,000 residents
were trapped in the town and a
"massacre" would occur if it fell,
he added. Regime forces, backed by
Hezbollah fighters, are reported
to have retaken from rebels a
disused military airfield north of
Qusair. Opposition groups and
humanitarian organisations say
conditions for the civilians and
the wounded in Qusair are dire,
with doctors saying oxygen and
other medical supplies have run out. Syrian government officials say
that a corridor has been
established to allow civilians to
escape, and fighters who put
down their arms are free to
leave too. Fears of further tension "Syria has received the first
shipment of Russian anti-
aircraft S-300 rockets," Mr Assad
is reported as saying in the TV
interview. "The rest of the shipment will
arrive soon." The S-300 is a highly capable
surface-to-air missile system
that, as well as targeting
aircraft, also has the capacity to
engage ballistic missiles. The delivery of such missiles
raises fears of further tension
with Israel, as Mr Assad is also
reported to have threatened to
respond directly if Israel
launches any further air attacks on Syria. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe
Yaalon said on Tuesday he had
information suggesting the
missiles had not yet been
delivered, but if they were Israel
would "know how to act". On Thursday, Israeli Energy
Minister Silvan Shalom told
public radio that Israel did not
want to "escalate" the situation
with Syria, but would not allow
the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah. The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says
the delivery of missiles could
bring the region into extremely
dangerous terrain. If those missiles have in fact
been supplied and the Israelis
could figure out where they are
and hit them, the regional
superpower, Israel, would be
hitting material provided by what used to be a global
superpower and is still a very
important international power,
our correspondent says. 1. The long-range
surveillance radar tracks
objects over a range of
300km (185 miles) and
relays information to the
command vehicle, which assesses potential targets. 2. A target is identified and
the command vehicle
orders the engagement
radar to launch missiles. 3. Launch data is sent to the
best placed of the
battalion's six launch
vehicles and it releases
two surface-to-air
missiles. 4. The engagement radar
helps guide the missiles
towards the target. It can
guide up to 12 missiles
simultaneously, engaging
up to six targets at once. Efforts by the US and Russia to
convene a peace conference in
Geneva in June have suffered a
further setback with the
opposition Syrian National
Coalition saying it will not take part while killing continues in
Qusair. Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Sabra
appealed for international help
for people that he said were
trapped in Qusair - a
strategically vital town on the
border with Lebanon that has become a key battleground. And he warned the Lebanese
government over the
involvement of Hezbollah,
saying the Syrian people could
not forgive the spilling of their
blood. Only last week, a spokesman for
the National Coalition had said it
would attend if Mr Assad agreed
to step down. The Syrian leader is quoted in
the TV interview as saying the
Syrian government would
attend in principle but doubts
the meeting will yield results.
Source:m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22713119
